This invention relates to the field of flight recorders and more particularly to automatic, real-time, collection of aircraft data and then transmission of such data to a world wide communication system for subsequent reception, analysis, storage and generation of aircraft flight, safety, fuel efficiency and maintenance advisories at a Central Ground Based Processing Station (CGBS).
Whenever an airplane crashes, authorities are anxious to find the flight data recorder. This is because it may reveal the causes of the crash. It is important to determine the cause because it may result from a problem affecting many flying aircraft. The flight data or crash recorder, sometimes also called a black box, is usually a tape recorder which is capable of recording many channels of information. However, recorders utilizing other storage media, such as compact discs are starting to be used because of their increased storage capacity. Regardless of storage medium used, the information recorded includes various flight parameters, such as engine status, fuel status, airspeed, position, altitude, attitude, control settings, and cockpit acoustic information. The information comes from sensors in the cockpit and at other strategic locations around the airplane. However, the information stored by the data recorder is often discarded shortly after each flight. If all flight data were analyzed in conjunction with weather, air traffic control (ATC) data and map data, they could become a valuable resource for detecting potential problems and improving aircraft design.
Sometimes it is difficult to locate the crashed plane, and, even when the crash site is known, it is sometimes difficult to locate the flight data recorder. The latter is frequently a problem when the airplane crashes in water.
To fulfil their intended purpose, current flight data recorders must be made crash resistant. Consequently, they are constructed of rugged materials which means that they are costly to produce and heavy. Use of a lighter flight data recorder would result in an aircraft cost and weight savings.
Moreover, except for occasional post flight analysis, current, recorded flight data exists in a vacuum. If they were analyzed in conjunction with weather data, manufacturer's data, map data, ATC data and position and altitude data, it would become a much more powerful tool.
In recent years there have been a number of developments in flight data recorders. U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,102 discloses a flight data recorder system which monitors a number of aircraft parameters and compares them to stored information to provide for more efficient aircraft operation and detection of excessive wear. This information is displayed and stored on-board and may be downloaded periodically via a link to a ground readout unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,656 discloses a system for broadcasting full broadcast quality video to airplanes in flight via satellite relays. The system includes video bandwidth compression, spread spectrum waveform processing and an electronically steered, circular aperture, phased array antenna, that conforms to the surface of the aircraft.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,274 discloses a method of recording selected flight data, including GPS data, onto a VTR and thereafter subjecting the recorded data to a data reduction process on the ground.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,302 discloses an aircraft collision warning system which includes a position determining subsystem, a trajectory determining subsystem, a collision predicting subsystem and a warning device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,133 discloses a computerized, integrated, health monitoring and vibration reduction system for a helicopter.
However, none of these developments contemplates long term central storage of all recorded information for archival uses. Also none contemplates real-time radio transmission of aircraft data to a central station. Furthermore, none contemplates combining information from aircraft with global position data, global map data, global weather data, ATC system data and manufacturers' data and providing real-time feedback, in the form of real-time ground and in-flight advisories to aircraft.
What is needed is a flight recorder system that senses many flight parameters and many aircraft operational parameters, and transmits this information along with aircraft identification and cockpit audio and video to a world wide, two-way radio frequency (rf) network. This information could then be monitored and safely recorded at a remote location where it could be analyzed in conjunction with archived data, flight control data, weather data, topological data, global positioning data and manufacturers' data to allow identification of maintenance problems, on-ground safety advisories and in-flight safety advisories. There are three types of in-flight advisories: emergency or safety of flight, flight efficiency or fuel economy, and flight separation. On the ground there are also three types of advisories: safe to fly, safe to take off and maintenance actions.
In the event of a crash having the recorded data at a remote site would eliminate the need to search for flight data recorders and allow instant analysis of the failure mode. Further, the remotely recorded data would provide the best estimate of where the crashed plane could be found. This estimate would be based on the aircraft's last telemetry of its position, engine and control status, its flight dynamics and ATC radar data (when available). Use of this invention would allow replacement of the current, on-board flight data recorders thus saving costs and weight. Other advantages would be back-up for radar position data, better control of aircraft separation, and improved flight efficiency. Development of a such a system represents a great improvement in the fields of flight data recorder design, aircraft safety and airline efficiency, and satisfies a long felt need of airplane manufacturers, airlines, maintenance personnel and crash investigators.